Spooky season: the time of year when people get hyped up and ready for this year’s Halloween festivities. These activities could range from apple bobbing and corn mazes, to late night graveyard visits and dressing up in costumes to go trick-or-treating. For most, this is a time to spend with friends eating candy, going to haunted houses, and watching your favorite horror films.

This is where junior Jonathan Sharp differs from his peers. Sharp doesn’t participate in Halloween festivities and sees October as just another month. “I grew up in a household that didn’t really believe in [holidays],” he said.

Usually holidays are seen as an opportunity to spend time with family and celebrate. Sharp feels as though he doesn’t need a break to spend time with his family and friends when he has the freedom to do so anytime he wants. “If I wanted to set [aside] a date to buy something special for someone, I could do that whenever,” he said. “It’s more or less a waste of time.”

He feels as if many times when you see people not celebrating holidays, you think it is due to religious views, and not for the simple reason of just not having the need to. “People think I don’t care about my family, [but I think] I care more about them than other people.”

According to Sharp, our lives are put on display for everyone to see. He feels as though it sets you up for judgment and anger from others for the way you choose to live your life. He wishes that, whether or not Halloween is your favorite holiday or just another day in your life, everyone respects our different outlooks on life. “I don’t judge [others] because that’s their life, and it’s none of my business just because they do something differently,” Sharp said.